Steel-wool holder



July 2, 1929. H. FITZPATRICK STEEL WOOL HOLDER Filed Nov. 5, 1927 Howard5623311 Patented July 2, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD FITZPATRICK, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

STEEL-"WOOL HOLDER.

Application filed November 3, 1927. Serial No. 230,756.

This invention relates to a holder for steel wool, being intendedparticularly for house hold uses such as scouring, polishing, cleaningand the like.

Steel wool has come largely into use for household purposes but whenheld directly in the hand and rubbed on the surface to be cleaned,strands of the wool may break up into small particles or splinters whichmay enterthe hand of the user and cause pain and often times infection.Various types of holders have therefore been devised for securing aquantity or a pad of steel wool on a handle so that the hand of the userneed not come into contact with the wool when the holder is in used.

My invention contemplates the provision of an inexpensive holder for aquantity, ball or pad or steel wool, to which the wool may be quicklyand easily secured and from which it may be readily detached forreplacement, and in which means are provided for so holding the wool asto allow sharp corners of utensils to be easily reached for cleaning,

' while sufficient pressure may be put on the wool to insure efficientcleansing action.

The various objects of my invention will appear from the descriptionwhich follows and from the drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front view of one form of my improved holder.

Fig. 2 is a side View of the same showing the ball or pad of steel woolin place and showing further in dotted lines, the positions assumed bythe holding clips when opened in readiness to receive the pad or torelease the pad from the holder.

In that practical and.preferred embodiment of my invention, which I haveillustrated, I prefer to use a clip-supporting member 9 over the end ofwhich the steel wool may be arranged, and to the faces of which the woolmay bepressed by means of the clips, so that pressure may be put on thewool through said member in any desired direction to carry outefficiently the cleaning function of the device. Said member ispreferably made of thin flat material, wood being preferable for economyand easy handling. A handle portion 10 suitably shaped to fit the hand:is provided at one end of said supporting'member 9,'the portion 10 beingprovided with a perforation 11 by means of which the holder may be hungup when not in use. It is intended that a pad, ball or handful of steelwool as 13 be tion 16 of the support 9.

arranged over the end 12 of the support 9, by pressing said end againstthe middle of the ball or pad and thereby shaping the wool in the formof a U, the sides of which engage the faces of the support. Near the end12, I prefer to provide means for removably holding the sides of thewool element 13 on to the preferably flat faces 14 and 15 of thesupporting member 9. It will be understood, however, that the support 9and the handle therefor may bemade of any desired crosssectional shapewhich may be found convenient and that'I do not intend to limit myselfto the specific flat form of the handle and of the holding or supportingportion thereof shown except in accordance with the terms of theappended claim.

The securing means for the steel wool may take various forms, but asillustrated, said means includes a pair of similar members arranged onopposite sides of the portion 16 and suitably held thereto. As shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the securing means includes a clip 17, pivotally mountedin a bearing member 18 and normally urged into a position close to theface 14L as by means of av spring 19. The bearing 18 and the springtherefor are secured to a suitable plate 20, the free extremity of thespring 19 being in contact with the then uppermost edge crossbar 21 ofthe clip 17, whereby said clip when opened out, is maintained by thespring in its open position shown at 22, Fig. 2, or when moved out ofsaid position, the clip 17 is normally urged by said spring into itsoperative position toward the face 14-. A similar clip is mounted on theface 15, both of said clips being secured to the member 16 by suitablerivets as 23 passing through the plates 20 and through the por- The freeextremity of the clip is preferably outturned to enable the user to liftthe clip easily away from the support and to release the worn pad forreplacement.

The steel wool 13, whether in the form of a rectangular or round pad orin the form of a ball detached from a larger quantity is arranged ashereinbefore pointed out with the middle part thereof pressed againstthe end 12 and with the sides thereof held in place by the clips 17. Inuse, the end of the pad held near the extremity 12 is pressed intoengagement with the surface to be scoured or cleaned and as by pressingthe support 9 in the desired direction and the entire device is at thesame time moved vigorously over the surface in the usual manner.

It will be seen that I have provided a support for a steel wool elementand means for attaching the wool thereto which means is readily openableand spread apart for the reception of the wool and quickly and easilytightened against the W001 for holding it securely and effectively inplace.

It will be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to thespecific structure shown and described herein as it will be obvious thatvarious changes may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of this invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

The combination with a pad of steel wool,

of a combined handle and supporting memher for the pad comprising anonresilient and relatively thin member of substantially rectangularcross-section terminating at one end in a handle shaped to fit the handof the user, a pad engaging member on each of the faces of the firstmember, having their respective ends bent away from the adjacent face ofthe supporting member for shaping and confining the pad at points inspaced relation to the supporting member, a bearing in which the otherend of the engaging member is pivoted, a spring in said bearing fornormally maintaining the engaging member in position adjacent to thesurface on which it is mounted, and means for permanently securing thebearing to the supporting member.

HOWARD FITZPATRICK.

